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| Sisters in the Zone, Lia and Hermana G on left |
They told us
we'd be living in Raintree, but we're actually in Wyview. I'm living one
stairwell over from my old apartment. It is SO nice here-- it's more like a
little missionary Utopia than a campus. It's amazing how they converted bedrooms
and kitchens and living rooms into a missionary training center.
There are all these cute little pathways and streams and
bridges in the Raintree apartments and they look super homey from the outside
(although they're falling apart on the inside. :)) The first night in Wyview
though, we didn't sleep at all because we practically froze to death, and then
we realized that even though we thought the heat was turned on the lever to
'heat' wasn't pushed over all the way.
I live next to Morgan! (her
beautiful cousin, going to a different mission in Mexico)
I see her all the time! It's fantastic! I also saw two of Grant's friends in
the cafeteria. Kevin and the other guy we talked to on Skype. The food here is
real food because the chefs are actually culinary students. I like the cafeteria--
it's actually an enormous portable but it feels kind of like a diner. The West
campus really is better. "We've found the place which God for us prepared,
far away, in the the west."
My address is:
Hermana Lia Ludlam
NOV 25 MEX-MER
2023 N 900 E Unit 892
Provo
UT 84602
Thank you for writing to me, fambly (Jenna, where art
thou?). I'm putting the last of your letters in the mail today. And thank
you also to the other beautiful people who have written me! Every day becomes
the best day ever when I realize "Gasp! We get to check the mail!" I
wish I could write back faster but we are only allowed to work on letters of
p-day so I do appreciate everything you write, even if I can't respond right
away.
Guess where I'm going on Monday... to the Mexican consulate
to get my VISA!! It's only the one in Salt
Lake but I'm so excited to be on
the outside. Actually, west campus missionaries are allowed to go
to Brigham's Landing on p-day and today it was GORGEOUS and we walked to go to
Burgers Supreme and Jamba Juice. It's weird to realize that the public sees me
as a missionary. They give us discounts and the normal people call us 'elder'
and 'sister'.
Being in the MTC is a lot more independent than I thought it
would be. You have three or four hours a day to sit in your classroom with your
district and NOT your teacher and direct your own study. It's definitely not
enough time-- I've realized Preach my Gospel should probably be canon. It has
the answers to everything. If anyone is planning to serve a mission, just
memorize it. I'm so surprised that I haven't burned out yet-- I can definitely
tell I was blessed with spiritual and studying stamina. Thanks for your
blessing Dad. :)
I LOVED hearing about the baptism. I was walking to class yesterday
and I realized "Oh my goodness, Agee is BAPTIZED!!!" It sounds like
quite the party weekend.
There is a sister in my district, Hermana Jones, who was a
violin major until she accidentally cut the tendons in her hand a few months
ago using a razor blade. But she can still play with all her other fingers
except her pinky, so we arranged 'How Great Thou Art' for two violins and
played it for sacrament meeting and it was wonderful. Also, she sings, so we're
going to audition 'Savior Redeemer of my Soul' for devotional with her soloing
voice and me on violin and we're using an accompanist from the MTC. I've also
been recruited by one of the elders in my district who wrote his own song he
sings and wants music to go with it. He
asked, “Can you play the violin with it?” and so I said yes.
Hno. Ralphs gave me a fabulous quote in our interview and
said "if you want to have a marvelous and miraculous experience [in the
MTC, on your mission, in your ward, in life], give that experience to someone
else.
Oh, man, the elders in my district are so great, Elder E and
Elder H. There are only two of them and they look like they would never be
friends in real life, but they do it and they are my heroes. They pretty much
show up us sisters. I love how hard and unashamedly they try and how they
actually want to be good missionaries so they make it happen. They leave the
room to study better, they diligently use the language programs even when all
the other elders don't, and they practiced role-playing long before the rest of
us figured out how good of an idea that was. They're so bright and beautiful. I
just love them.
Another one of Hno. Ralphs quotes is "One missionary
can change himself...can change his companionship...his district...his zone...his
mission... the world." That has definitely proven true up to the district
level. They make us sisters try harder in our district of 6 people. Our zone
has some obedience problems (in the districts that arrived before us) and I can
see how our district's example has affected them. I don't want to forget how
one or two people's examples, even if they look like goody-two-shoes, can make
such a difference in other people's lives.
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| Happy Halloween from the Zone Elders |
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| Zone at the Temple |
How was Halloween?! I am craving pictures of you guys
because the album Grant gave to me only has pictures from four or five years
ago. For Halloween, I suggested that the four of us dress up as the Elders from
our district since two of us are blonde and two are brunette and we all brought
glasses. We pulled our hair back in buns and wore white shirts with black
skirts and jackets and used scarves for ties. So we still looked like Sister
missionaries but still thought we were pretty hilarious. The elders didn't even
get it. We had to explain it to them. I wish I could send pictures but these
laptops don't allow you to attach things to emails. GAH!
Something that I've been hit over the head with all week is
something I didn't realize I had a problem with until I realized how much
better it could be when I fixed it. Summed up it's 'Hakuna Matata'-- There were
a whole bunch of different experiences that I don't have time to write, but it
was first Brother M, the hipster counselor, who was telling us "If you
feel bad about something, you're doing it wrong. Stop worrying about stuff.
Stop caring. Just be happy." At first I was thought it was Brother M being
slightly off because it's amazing how he just starts talking and works out
these super complex thoughts as he's saying them and sometimes I wonder how
right he is. Luckily he has a lot of faith and even though he does it all the
time, it somehow always works and you can tell it's influenced by the Spirit.
Anyways, I realized he was right.
I was sitting in MTC choir and I heard something he had said
to me in my interview finally sink in. I heard him saying "Lia, you're
okay," except I felt Heavenly Father saying "Lia, you're okay."
It was the best feeling in the world. I realized I'm actually living my life
right, and even though I'm weak in a lot of areas, that doesn't make me a bad
person. I'm not supposed to feel awful about the things I'm not perfect in.
It's not a sin to be human. It's supposed to be a process. Of course,
there's that quote (also from Hno. Ralphs...) "The only person's
affirmation I trust that I'm doing okay is God's." I can't explain how
that feeling is different from an "all is well in Zion
feeling", but it is-- and I realized we are here to be joyful, now. And
feeling that feeling doesn't make me content with where I am, it makes me want
to try harder. The gospel just has so much more light when you let
it make you happy and realize you’re progressing instead of stressing out how
you're not. I always thought that was a lesson for old Relief Society
sisters, but now I get it.
I LOVE you family!
Moocheesymo amor,
Hermana Lia
